Distribution of oral plaque samples positive for bacterial DNA by PCR.

Rats were infected with Pg+Td+Tf (P. gingivalis + T. denticola + T. forsythia) for four consecutive days, every other week for 12 weeks and oral samples were collected four days following each infection cycle. Oral samples were analyzed using appropriate bacteria specific PCR primers with positive and negative controls. a Indicates the number of oral samples collected following polymicrobial infection. b Indicates the total number of rat oral samples positive by PCR analysis. Oral samples from uninfected control rats were also collected and evaluated for the presence of P. gingivalis, T. denticola, and T. forsythia bacterial genomic DNA using bacteria-specific primers. c N/P indicates that PCR was not performed using respective primers due to insufficient quantity of available DNA. Total number of rats analyzed in each group n = 6. The numbers in each column indicate the number of rats whose respective organ was found positive for bacterial genomic DNA for six rats in each group.